Originally a TV producer and host, Long broke into film acting in the early 1980s, notably in Night Shift (1982) with Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton. In 1982 she began playing the role of barmaid Diane Chambers on the TV sitcom Cheers (1982–87), which established her as a star. After leaving Cheers in 1987, she appeared in the movies Outrageous Fortune (1987, with Bette Midler), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), A Very Brady Sequel (1996) and Dr. T & the Women (2000).